Change management

My recent post on MUVLE and Sim venture jogged my memory of a recent 1 day training course I attended here at the Wolverhampton Science Park. It was a event aimed at senior managers who are implementing large scale changes in an organisation. The morning session was an overview of current theory delivered by John Burke and John Alderson who both work for JISC infonet. Three current models were discussed, namely;

1. UN-Freeze > Move > RE-Freeze (brain washing techniques use this model!)
2. external & internal drivers and influences (see diagram above).
3. emotional model (a transistional curve)
   

Download the infokit notes from URL : http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/change-management

Now comes the interesting part, the afternoon session. Not saying the morning wasn't, but the afternoon was quite different from what I expected. Essentially we spent the afternoon working in pairs on a very expensive computer based simualtion. The simulation used a scenario to prompt you to make choices and implement interventions to get employees on your side. The fictitious company had a selection of employees that you had to manage and work out the best way to make smaller to progressively larger changes , ensuring you had most people "on board". It was really very good, and using the "game" simulation ensured that this poentially dry subject was delivered in an engaging and stimulating manner.

This "serious game" exemplifies the best qualities of true elearning; fun, stimulating , engaging, collaborative, facilitated, learner centred, challenging, reflective.... No wonder some universties are looking seriously at the gaming genre as viable pedagogic models. Coventry University has their own serious games institute in RL and SL. And if you are thinking of using a MUVE (like There) there are websites like http://simteach.com// to give you pointers on what to expect.

a screen shot of the simulation software

You are urged to take a while looking around the revamped JISC infonet website : http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/, as they have refined and streamlined the site, and it contains many different infokits for managers to freely download. They are just about to launch an infokit on Eportfolios and have results out for their strategic planning project.